Letters To The Editor

February 17, 1995

RECIPE FOR CLEAN AIR

The Jan. 29 article "Air pollution rules would hurt business" raises several good points: Does air quality here need help? If so, what should be done? And need concern for air quality stifle economic growth of the region?

A threshold was crossed in Hampton Roads last year. Air quality here is better than it is in many areas of the country, but worse than in others. A significant cause of worsening air quality may well be found in land up to a few hundred miles west of here where factories and power plants exist and people drive cars to work. One thing is certain: If we don't take action now to maintain air quality standards, air quality will deteriorate.

As to what to do to maintain good air quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has guidelines on measures to take once the threshold is exceeded. Those likely to be imposed here include vehicle inspection and maintenance, vapor recovery during fueling of automobiles and more pollution controls on industry in the area. There are other measures that are not up for consideration now, but which should be part of a balanced program: Addition of more bicycle lanes, encouraging ride sharing and more bus use to reduce vehicle miles traveled; redesign of automobiles so that they get much higher gas mileage, hence emitting fewer pollutants (development of such cars is now feasible without sacrificing convenience or comfort - see the December 1994 Scientific American); encouraging housing development be planned so that people can live closer to where they work.

The readers should be aware that Virginia is not an island, apart from the main. If upwind states were free to pollute as they wished, our air would be much dirtier. Thus, we benefit indirectly from EPA's regulations. Some of the additional measures mentioned above would also help ensure that air entering Virginia is cleaner, and would also reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Finally, it should be noted that many companies carefully consider the local environmental quality before deciding to move in. So do tourists, part of one of this region's biggest industries.

The Sierra Club would be happy to work with business, government and citizens to find a combination of measures that would improve air quality in Hampton Roads in a convenient, cost-effective manner and still allow economic development of the region.

William B. Grant

Conservation Chair, York River Group Sierra Club, Yorktown

GERMANY'S STRUGGLE

The Feb. 13 article on the "moral complexities marking the air raids of Dresden" 50 years ago not only sheds an insight to the horrors of the event and to the complexities of a people's 50-year search for peace of mind, but it also misses the painful overture of the German people's crescendoing need to openly and freely say to a forum of equals: We are proud to be Germans.

This is visibly hurtful to the nation's youth, who want to say it on boldly lettered T-shirts, but feel stymied by the guilt-induced hesitancy still prevalent in the soon-to-be two generations since the atrocity of World War II. Plainly today's boys and girls of Germany have an inherent right to love their country. Plainly these kids are the leaders of tomorrow, and plainly the common denomination to be just like other kids is a fact of life our global economy cannot afford to overlook.

The international media must be trained to understand their enormous responsibility to the humanities and to curb their zest to sensationalize across the divisions of peoples struggling to find their place in world peace.

Lars Thane

Newport News

CITY PROVIDES SERVICE

Reference Dorothea Mason's Feb. 7 letter, "Link residency to job":

Mason's concern that public servants would overlook crime on the streets of Hampton just because they live elsewhere is nonsense. Day in and day out, crime is fought in this city. I have lived in this city for all my 45 years, have been employed by the city for 23 years and look forward to the day when I can retire and leave this city myself.

For what you pay in taxes to Hampton each year, you are getting 24-hour police and fire protection. Ambulance service is "free"; Newport News will charge you for this service.

The dedicated service that police and fire personnel put forth is appreciated only when it directly involves the victim. Mason, where were you when the city gave out raises this year and the patrolman and firefighter were overlooked, but the officers were given pay grade increases?

Mason, if I were you, I'd worry more about the quality and number of those firefighters and patrol officers serving you than about where they live. I live here for the conveniences the city provides at a reasonable cost in taxes.

Mason, since you live in Hampton, I'm sure you don't shop in any other city. Remember, the tax you pay for goods goes to pay for these services.

Jesse Barbour

Hampton

SULLIVAN HAILED

Thanks to the Daily Press for printing the remarks of President Timothy Sullivan at the recent Charter Day celebration of The College of William and Mary.

The entire college community, and especially the alumni, must be proud and happy to have a president who speaks so clearly and cogently about the aims and value of higher education.

And all Virginians can be grateful for Sullivan's active leadership in opposing the proposed decreases in the commonwealth's support of education.

Frank A. MacDonald

Williamsburg

A GOOD LAUGH

Your weekly gun control editorials always give me a good laugh. The feelings you express have no basis in fact.

May I recommend a good book? Read "Guns, Crime and Freedom" by Wayne LaPierre.